End Of Beginning

Karen

Karen rummages around in her bag, looking for her spare key. Matt was home from work today, having taken more of a beating than usual last night.

She unlocks the door and opens it, hanging her bag up next to Matt’s cane. She had Peter’s mask in it, she had to remember to get Matt to return it now that they had talked. She was surprised he hadn’t mentioned it at all today.

Matt doesn’t seem to be in his living room or kitchen and his bedroom door is slid shut. Karen takes her heels off, tiptoeing over and sliding open the door. Matt’s room is bright, the sun shining through it, but Matt sleeps peacefully in his bed, laying on his stomach.

Even from this distance Karen can see the bruising on Matt’s back. She clicks her tongue, closing the door. She putzes around the kitchen, doing Matt’s dishes and starting on dinner for the two of them. By the time she was plating it Matt was awake.

She jumps as she feels warm fingers run along her lower back, blushing once she realises that it’s Matt.

“Hello to you too.” She smiles, turning around and handing a plate to Matt. His hair is ruffled on one side and flat on the other, sleep pants wrinkled. The bruise from his back stretches around to the front, up his pectoral and stopping just below his jaw. Karen clicks her tongue poking at the bruise on Matt’s rib. Matt hisses.

“Ow, why did you do that?”

“You need to be more careful Matt Murdock.” She grabs her own plate and walks over to Matt’s dinner table. He follows behind her, sitting next to her.

“Did you see Peter today?” Karen nods.

“I did, how did you know that?”

“I can smell him on you.” Karen snorts.

“You’re so weird.” They eat in relative silence and Karen finds her eyes wandering everywhere but Matt’s naked chest.

She’d seen him shirtless a countless number of times but it never failed to make her blush. Or make her stomach churn uncomfortably when she saw the many scars littering his smooth tanned skin.

“So how did talking to Peter go?” Matt questions once he’s finished his food. Karen nods, taking her last bite before stacking their plates. She moves into the kitchen, Matt trailing behind. They settle into their usual routine of washing and drying dishes as they talk.

“It went well. He’s not going to ignore me any more, which is what’s most important, but y’know he said some things that really got to me.” Matt raises his eyebrow curiously. Karen thinks for a moment about what to say next.

“When you push me and Foggy away is it because you’re dealing with bigger threats while doing your Daredevil stuff, or are you just getting in your own head?” Matt’s eyes widened, surprised by the question. He stops his drying for a moment, thinking. To Matt, the question came out of left field. He didn’t see what this had to do with Peter.

“Um, a bit of both I guess.” He answers. Karen nods, noticing her nail polish flaking off as she washed the dishes. She needed to paint her nails again.

“Every time you push me away, I find myself having a harder time coming back to you.” She admits. “Part of me wonders if it would be easier if I stopped being so close with you. It would hurt a heck of a lot less seeing you like this if we just stayed the way we were all those years ago after we broke up.”

They rarely talked about when they were in a relationship, and it feels weird to bring up. Karen finds herself blushing.

“But as selfish as that is for me to think, it feels more selfish staying close to you. I know I shouldn’t want it, and that sometimes you don’t want it.” Matt purses his lips, unsure of where this is going. “Peter was talking about how lonely life is as a vigilante. How the constant fear of others getting hurt costs relationships. Honestly, I don’t care if I somehow end up dead because of your… night job. I’m not leaving you Matt. I’m going to stay by your side until the end, even if you try to push me away. I just thought you should know that.”

She drops the plate she was washing into the sink with a gasp as Matt grabs her arms. His grip is gentle, but his gaze is crushing. He looks down at her, brown eyes glossy. He opens his mouth and Karen expects him to say something stupid like ‘you can’t do that’, or ‘it’s not selfish if you want to leave’, but he leans down and kisses her instead.

~~~~~~

He didn’t expect to find Karen in his apartment when he woke up.

He didn’t expect her to make them dinner and spill all of her feelings on him, or for it to sting him as if it were boiling water she had spilled all over his bare skin.

And he definitely did not expect to kiss her.

He grabbed her arms, and the plate she was washing splashed into the water loudly. He wasn’t sure where to go from here, but her heart hammered in her chest, and her warm breath fanning over his bare chest was intoxicating.

She tasted the exact same way she had the last time that they kissed, and once again Matt was addicted to it. Her hand slides up his chest and he shivers. Her nails skim over his skin as she wraps a hand around his neck and it sends a pleasant tingle down his spine. He gasps as she grabs at his still bruised neck.

“Sorry.” She apologises against his lips and Matt kisses her harder. Her heart beat fills his ears. It was all he could hear. He felt it beating heavily against his chest, beating as fast as a hummingbird's wings flap.

Karen pulls away, resting her hand on Matt’s chest. It flutters with his heart and she smiles.

“I wasn’t expecting you to do that.” She whispered. Matt misses the taste of her lips already.

“I wasn’t either.” He whispers back, grinning. Karen laughs, it’s airy, relieved. Matt leans back down, hoping to get a taste of her laughter before it is gone, but Karen puts a finger against his lips, stopping him.

“I haven’t finished the dishes yet.” She says, smirking.

“The dishes can wait.” Matt replies against her finger. It tastes almost as sweet against his lips as her mouth did.

“So can I.”

“I can’t.” He’d never been more desperate for something in his life. Karen pulls away.

“Jesus, Matt.” She laughs, turning back towards the dishes. Matt adjusts himself while she isn’t looking.

“Blasphemy.” He says, returning to her side. Karen rolls her eyes.

“The way you kiss me is blasphemous.” She retorts.

“I don’t think you used that word right.” She looks up at him, eyebrows raised. Matt simply ducks down and kisses her again. Karen pulls away, laughing annoyed.

“Just let me do the dishes, we can kiss after.” Matt was going to ignore the fact that they should probably talk after as well, brain clouded with the thought of kissing her again.

He wanted to do more than kiss her, something else he didn’t expect.

He wanted to be able to map out her whole body, to be able to see her the way he would if he had normal working eyes.

His fingers hover by her waist as she does the dishes. She places them on a towel laid out on the counter for them to dry. She had no hope in Matt drying the dishes anymore. When she’s done washing the dishes she leans back against Matt’s hovering fingers.

“Okay, you can kiss me again,” she finishes the sentence with a squeal as Matt lifts her up, arms wrapped around her waist. She clamps a hand over Matt’s ear. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so loud, you just surprised me.” Matt pats her hip.

“It’s alright, don’t worry.”

Matt walks towards his bedroom, Karen hugged close to his chest. He hears her heart flutter nervously once she realises where they were going. Matt gently puts her down directly outside the door frame, hands still stuck to her waist.

“I don’t expect anything else of you tonight, I’m content just kissing you. I just figured my kitchen isn’t really the best place.” Karen nods, wrapping her hand around Matt’s wrist and removing it from her hip. She drags him into his room, standing up on her tiptoes to plant a gentle kiss against his cheek. He could tell by the subtle twitches in her face that his stubbled skin tickled her. He needs to shave.

Karen sits down, legs resting on the edge of Matt’s bed. She’s always loved his mattress, it was plush, hugging her body perfectly.

From this angle, looking up at Matt, Karen sort of understood how people could find the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen intimidating. He loomed over her, his large frame casting a dark shadow over her whole body, but then he crouches down to her level and she remembers that it’s just Matt. She isn’t scared of Matt.

She runs her fingers through his messy sleep hair and he hums happily. She scrapes her blunt nails over his scalp and his eyes flutter shut. Karen had never realised how long his eyelashes were until they fluttered gently against his scarred skin. A stark red compared to the pale scars around his eyes.

His hands make their way up her smooth calves and Karen is suddenly very glad that she hadn’t worn tights today.

As Karen runs her blunt nails through Matt’s hair repetitively, Matt’s own nails trace gentle groves up her legs towards her thighs, the skin heating under his touch. He runs his thumb over her thigh, and Karen finds it distracting enough that her hands stop moving in Matt’s hair.

She inhales a deep breath when Matt’s mouth moves down to trace back over where his thumb was stroking.

She smelled sweet everywhere, and tasted even sweeter the more he got to kiss her. He quickly darts his tongue out for a better taste of her and suppresses a groan.

He’s obsessed with everything about Karen Page.

The way she feels.

The way she tastes.

The way she sounds.

The way she smells.

His hands run further up her thigh, fingers dipping under the hem of her skirt. Karen sighs, fingers flexing in his hair.

Matt brings his mouth away from her skin, turning his head towards Karen.

“Is this okay?” He whispers.

“Yeah.” Karen’s voice wavers and cracks. She clears her throat. “Yes.”

Matt brings his mouth back down, nose skimming against her soft skin. He pushes her skirt upwards, exploring further. His teeth nip and his mouth sucks gentle marks into her skin. He drinks in the quiet noises coming from Karen.

It was different from the usual happy noises that Matt loved to hear from her, and left a hot burn low in Matt’s body as opposed to the usual warmth Karen made him feel. He places one last kiss to Karen’s upper thigh before dragging his fingers up to her blouse. It was a soft one, one that she frequently wore to work.

His fingers work the blouse out from where it was tucked into her skirt, fingers skirting over the smooth skin there. Karen’s fingers leave his hair as they come down to his hand, pulling it out of her blouse and placing it on the bottom button.

“You can take it off.” She says, returning her hands back to Matt’s hair. They rest at the base of his neck where the fine hairs turn from red to grey. Matt's fingers shake as he tries to unbutton her shirt, struggling to get the small buttons through the holes. “You alright there Murdock? A little nervous?”

“No.”

Yes.

Her hands are removed from his hair again, moving down to unbutton the shirt. She moves with practised precisions, unbuttoning the shirt much quicker than Matt would have. Matts hovering hands return to her soft skin, stroking over it. He fans his hands out, running them over her lower abdomen. His fingers dip into her belly button as he moves upwards and her stomach muscles contract.

“Are you ticklish?” Matt asks, bringing his mouth down to replace his hand. His warm breath fans over her skin and she squirms again.

“No. Just not used to people touching my stomach so much.” Her hand strokes up and down Matt’s other arm and he feels goosebumps erupt under her touch.

“Are you okay with it?” Matt asks, pausing his touching. Karen nods.

“Very.” Matt’s hands continue their path upwards, resting on Karen’s sternum. His thumb runs over the lace of her bralette. He feels the grooved pattern under his thumb, the fabric thin enough that it feels as though he’s touching her bare skin. He presses a kiss to her abdomen before moving his mouth up towards her left breast, placing his lips gently against the exposed skin there.

Her heart beats rapidly under his touch, her breath coming in rapid bursts. It fills his ears like static, thrumming consistently.

“Matt, just kiss me please.” Karen pleads quietly. Matt smiles against her skin.

“I am kissing you.” He emphases it by kissing her again, closer to where her skin is hidden by her bralette. Karen huffs out a sigh and the hand that was tracing shapes on his arm comes up to his hair. She tugs his head away and Matt groans.

“Matt… Please.” Matt nods and Karen’s grip on his hair loosens. His scalp tingles pleasantly where she had tugged his hair. His hand moves up from her sternum, resting against her jaw. Under his palm he can feel one of her beauty marks.

Karen’s tongue pokes out wetting her lips, and Matt surges forward.

The first time that they had kissed it felt like Matt had been sprayed directly in the mouth with perfume. The floral smell on her neck nauseating, but now Matt found that the sweet taste of her lips reminded him of honey.

He pulls away.

“When did you stop wearing perfume?” He asks.

“After you told me about all your weird sense enhancements. I knew it was probably a lot for you.” Matt nods, moving down and kissing her neck. He didn’t dare do so the first time they’d kissed, overwhelmed by the perfume, but now he found that she just smelled like herself.

He places gentle kisses to her neck, bringing his hand towards the collar of her shirt, where it is splayed over her shoulders, and pushes it down. It falls down to her elbow and he does the same on the other side. Karen shifts her arms so the blouse falls off, pooling around her waist on the bed.

Matt runs his hand down her arm, bumpy like braille where her hair stands up.

“Are you cold?” He rubs her arm harder to create friction, hoping to warm her up. Karen shakes her head.

“I’m okay, really. Stop worrying so much.” She laughs, bringing his mouth back up to hers. Matt runs his hands over the ridges of Karen’s ribs, tucking his hand under her bralette and pushing it up. Karen separates their lips to help him get the bralette over her head. She lifts her arms up, twitching as Matt’s hands run over her armpits.

“You totally are ticklish.” Karen laughs, tossing the bralette to the side.

“Are you not?” She asks. Matt shrugs, once again bringing his mouth down to one of Karen’s breasts. Karen gasps as he skims his teeth over her nipple and her fingers find their way into his hair again. He works at her neck and chest with teeth and tongue until Karen’s arms are weak.

She lays back, pulling Matt down with her, bringing his mouth to hers once again. Karen’s breasts brush against Matt’s scarred chest every time she inhales, quiet noises coming from her mouth each time.

“I think I could kiss you until it kills me.” Matt whispers against her mouth. Karen huffs out a laugh.

“At this point I think it is going to kill me.” Matt kisses her one more time before standing back up, leaving Karen laying on his bed.

“Can I take your skirt off?”

“Please. The zipper is on the side.” Matt brings his hand to the side of the skirt, finding a long sewn seam. “Other side.” He skims his fingers across her stomach just to feel it twitch. He smiles when she tenses and she hits his arm playfully. “Will you just get to it?”

“Someone’s in a rush.” Matt says, finally finding the zipper. He unzips it slowly, just to spite her.

“Sorry that I’ve been waiting for this for ten years.” Karen replies. She lifts her hips up as Matt pulls the skirt down. She lifts her legs as he pulls it off and he grabs her blouse from where it lays on the bed as well. He drops them to the floor, climbing back over top of Karen.

He rests one of his hands in the dip of her hip, fingers digging into supple flesh as he moves her legs apart. He settles between them and Karen’s hands find their way under the waistband of his pants, resting on his lower back where the bruise dwindles. She runs a finger over a small scar.

“Do you have any skin that isn’t scarred?”

He didn’t think he did, other than, well…

“I can show you something that I know isn’t scarred.” Karen throws her head back as she laughs and Matt leans down to suck at her exposed neck.

“You are something else Matt Murdock.” Her laughter warps into a warbled moan as Matt runs his finger from her hip to her clothed crotch. She’s hot against his fingers, moisture collecting in the grooves of his finger tips. He can smell her despite his face being buried in her neck, the heady smell making him feel light headed.

Matt suddenly remembers his lack of window curtains and hopes to God that Peter doesn’t swing by right now in his stupid new mask. He had a tendency to swing past his large windows. It would be quite the sight for him to see, with Matt jolting against Karen’s inner thigh and his nimble fingers working over her clothed crotch.

One of Karen’s hands emerges from the back of his pants, her hand coming up to her mouth. Matt can hear her teeth gently bite down on her knuckle.

“What are you doing?” Matt mumbles against her neck. She moves her hand away from her mouth.

“Trying to be quiet. I don’t want to hurt your ears.” Matt smiles.

“You won’t.” Karen nods and her hand moves back under his waistband. She pushes his hips downwards, grinding his clothed crotch against her own. Matt groans, biting down on her neck.

“Matt, can you please just take these off.” She says, snapping his waistband against his lower back. Matt pulls away from the warmth of her neck reluctantly, leaning back to pull his sleep pants off.

He suddenly felt very exposed. He couldn’t see Karen’s face to gauge her reaction to his nakedness, and her heartbeat continued to beat at a steadily fast pace, but he suddenly hears Karen sigh and the telltale sound of her taking off her own bottoms.

At least he wasn’t the only one naked now.

He parts her legs again, slotting his hips between them. Karen’s hands roamed freely over his naked body, mapping out scars on the back of his thighs, before gently moving over the bruise on his back to comb back through his hair again.

“I love your hair.” She says, ruffling it at the back.

“I can tell.” Matt smirks. His fingers trace back down her thigh, making their way back between her legs. Karen sighs out his name as his dextrous fingers move inside of her, the noises coming from her mouth rising to a quick crescendo. Her hand moves to cover her mouth and Matt intercepts it half way, holding it against the bed beside her head.

“I told you that you won’t hurt my ears.” Matt reassures. Karen nods, but clamps her lips together nonetheless. Matt’s fingers continue their explorative stroking, Karen’s breath coming in quick pants that ended in quiet whines, trapped behind her sealed lips.

Karen’s hand twitches where it’s trapped under his, gripping the sheets. She pinches the silk between her fingers, tugging at it repeatedly, grounding herself. Her other hand comes down, wrapping around Matt’s wrist. He stops his movement, looking towards her face.

“Are you alright?” He asks, moving to slide his fingers out. Karen's grip tights, keeping him there. She nods.

“I just need a second.” She lays for a moment, taking gulping breaths, fluttering around Matt’s fingers with each exhale. Finally, after a few minutes, she pulls on Matt’s wrist and he retracts his fingers. He wipes them on the sheets next to Karen’s hips, returning his hand to the velvety skin of her stomach. He runs his flat hand over the expanse of her stomach, moving up to her breasts, and then her neck.

His hand grips gently around it, her pulse thrumming lively under his fingers. He feels her swallow under his palm and his hand moves back down her body. Karen's lithe fingers stroke down the length of him and he shudders.

“Karen” He starts, Karen’s hand slips out of his weakened grip and clamps over his mouth.

“Matt, just stop talking and do something.” Matt laughs and Karen removes her hand from his mouth.

“Why don’t you talk to me like this all the time?” Matt teases. Karen hits his arm.

“Matt! Stop it. Please.” Matt obliges, tightening his lips as he pushes inside of her. Karen sighs happily, wrapping her pillowy thighs around his waist. Matt hikes her legs up higher, groaning as her knees dig into his bruised ribs.

“You okay?” Matt nods. He never complained about a little bit of pain. He doesn’t move, even after Karen tells him that she’s alright. It was all so much, his skin buzzing. It felt like his every nerve ending was on fire, the thin layer of sweat collecting between his and Karen’s skin filling his nostrils with a salty sweet smell.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Karen asks again, stroking Matt’s arm comfortingly. Matt nods again.

“Yeah it’s all just…” He wasn’t too sure how to explain to her the way he felt. Sex was always overwhelming, even for people without his enhancements, but to him it felt as if all of his senses had been increased tenfold. “It’s just a lot, give me a minute.” Karen laughs, clenching around him and Matt buries his face in Karen's neck with a loud moan. Her neck tastes salty where Matt’s lips rest.

“You’re so sensitive Matt.” He was aware.

He pulls out before slowly thrusting back in. Karen’s nails dig into the skin on his arms and Matt groans against her neck. He eventually pulled his face away from her neck, opening himself up to Karen again. He brings his hand up and runs his thumb over her cheekbone. Her skin is wrinkled around her eyes where they are clenched shut.

“You alright?” He can barely get it out, groaning quietly as he continues his movement. Karen nods.

“Yeah, just curious. Try to experience this the way you do.” Matt chuckles, placing a kiss on Karen's closed eyelids. Karen opens her eyes again, long eyelashes brushing gently against where Matt’s thumb rests on her cheek.

“I don’t think closing your eyes would be enough. It feels like I’m on fire right now.” Matt says with another laugh.

“In a good way?”

Matt nods, thrusting and groaning loudly again as if to prove it.

“In a very good way,”

~~~~~~

Later on, once they’re showered and have changed the sheets, Karen lays on Matt’s chest, ear over top of his heart. Matt combs his fingers through her drying hair, breaking apart any knots that may have formed when she was towel drying it.

They’ve laid in this bed together a countless number of times, but never allowed themselves to enjoy each other's touch to the extent that they were right now. Karen’s fingers trace small shapes on Matt’s shoulders as he moves to massage her scalp.

“Remember when you wouldn’t come up to my apartment with me after our first date.” She whispers. Matt hums in acknowledgment. “I’m not going to lie, I was trying to get in your pants that night.” She says, laughing loudly. It breaks up the silence she had previously avoided breaking. Matt snorts, too tired to really respond. “Do you think it would have played out the same way had we had sex ten years ago?” She asks, looking up at him.

Matt scrunches up his face, thinking.

“No, I don’t think it would have. I lacked a lot of the maturity that I have now. I probably wouldn’t have been able to let myself indulge in what I wanted as much as I allow myself to now.”

“What was it you wanted to indulge in?” Karen’s voice is gentle again, lips moving against where she lays on Matt’s chest.

“You. Always you.” Matt responds, leaning down to place a kiss on the top of her head. She smells like the gentle fragrance of his shampoo. Matt pulls Karen up higher and she nestles her face into his neck.

Finally, Matt lets himself indulge in the softness and warmth of Karen, letting the sound of her heart sing him to sleep like a lullaby. He was okay with enjoying this, the simple soft things in life, something that had avoided for so long.

Something that Karen brought back into his life.